Patio RV Park in Blue River, OR

We are getting so close to the Pacific, it is almost tangible. And yet, the journey continues. This morning August woke up quite early again, but did not go back to sleep. This is probably good for him, as it may lessen the adjustment back to our normal schedule. But, it is not working out very well for me. I think I could sleep for 12 hours right now and it would be just right.

Also, August spent a good part of the morning demonstrating why toddlers and RVs don't necessarily mix well.

I could tell he had some energy to burn off, so we stopped by McDonald's for a mid-morning play and snack before leaving Prineville. I think at this point I have seen enough Playplaces to write a book about it. One interesting observation, I've noticed they're pretty popular as a place for divorced dads to take their kids. Kind of sad, really, to see them sitting with their food and looking at their phones while their little ones play, but I suppose I might do the same thing if I were in that position.

After about an hour and a half of playing, we took off for our next destination. The drive took us up through McKenzie Pass and then down to our campground. I saw a sign on the way up that said, "Last turnaround. No vehicles over 35 feet." This did not give me any warm and fuzzy feelings about taking the behemoth up there, but I didn't think we had any other choice so we pressed on. The combination of narrow roads, no shoulder, high walls in many places, and hairpin turns was rather harrowing. We made it, but my blood pressure was elevated through much of it. I learned later on that there was a much smoother route that apparently neither I nor my GPS knew about.

Putting aside the tricky driving aspect, it was a really gorgeous drive. Certainly the most striking and fascinating view is that near the summit is a 65 square mile lava flow. Dramatic black rocks lie in piles as far as the eye can see. It's obvious that they haven't always been there, as in many places you could see the tops of evergreen trees peeking through. I don't believe I've ever seen lava flow before, and I was happy to get to go through this area.

We caught up with Chris on the way down, and stopped for a second. Even though it was 20 more miles to our destination, he ended up arriving just a few minutes after us since we had to go so slowly and carefully down all those switchbacks. All of the cars were on bicycle speed!

Our RV park tonight is right on the McKenzie River, a beautiful little river. Our site is about 15 feet from the water, and the sound of the rushing water very strong. It's a rapid river and a common place for rafting, and it was really fun this afternoon to be able to sit at our picnic table and watch the rafts full of people go by. They were all soaked and moving quickly through the rapids, all seemed to be having a blast.

Tomorrow is one more medium leg to Eugene, and then on Monday the last short push to the coast. We are looking forward to the finish but sad to be leaving the adventure behind soon.